Moving to California seems to be a dream everyone has and why wouldn’t they considering the amazing mix of nature, the wonderful views, the great climate and the endless coastline, so we’re going to take a look at the 11 best places to retire in California.
When you think about great places to live once you hit retirement age, a great climate is at the top of your list. That’s mainly because, depending on where you’ve lived your whole life, you’re probably sick of shoveling snow, and dealing with snow in any capacity, alongside the icy roads, the cold weather and just about anything that will make your bones hurt.
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Therefore, California seems like the place to go, or any other mild climate place, to be honest. But California has a fame of its own, so it’s only natural that it’s going to hit the top of your list pretty fast. Of course, California isn’t just Los Angeles or San Francisco, and it’s not just deserts and flat lands. In fact, considering the size of the state and the variation in geography, you’ll be more or less surprised to find quite a bit of difference in climate as well. For instance, San Diego gets a little rain, but the north area of the coast is pretty rainy from about November until March. The central coast will get mild weather all year round while the High Sierras will see heavy snow in the winter.
It’s all about where you’re going to choose to move. While some areas are pretty crowded, there are plenty of counties with just a few thousand residents, meaning there’s a lot of elbow room for everyone.
To create our list today, we took a look at all California’s counties and took into consideration several aspects that will impact retirees looking to move. On one hand, we wanted to know just how many doctors are in the area to take care of people, while on another we checked out just how high the commuting time is since we’re pretty sure you’re sick of spending forever in your car. Then, we took into consideration the crime rates in the area, as well as the median home price and the cost of living index since those are important too.
For reference’s sake, California, home to nearly 38 million people has an average commute time of 27 minutes, while the median home price in the state is just north of $400,000. The cost of living index is 150.6, with 100 being the national average, while the crime rate is calculated at 46 with 1 indicating low crime numbers. When it comes to healthcare, California has 248 physicians per 100,000 residents. Or, if you’re still not convinced, you could check the 10 best places to retire in Denver, too.
We gathered the data from Sperling’s BestPlaces which garners info from a wealth of sources, including the Census Bureau, the FBI, Department of Health and Human Services, and more, putting it all in a nice format that everyone can read. We awarded every county points, added them up and came up with the 11 best places to retire in California.
